


9 Lives Percy Jackson Should've, Could've, or Woud've Had

by fandomsandfries



Series: Don't Dream It's Over (my PJO & HOO drabbles) [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Break Up, Christmas Fluff, Crying, Dancing, Eating Disorders, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Italian Nico, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Minor Injuries, Mistletoe, Multi, Original Character(s), POV Outsider, Power Outage, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, i'm so mean to percy help, musician percy, mysterious packages, scared percy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 12:53:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7268983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomsandfries/pseuds/fandomsandfries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>9 separate drabbles all centered around Percy. Some are AU, some could generally follow canon. Some are long and some are short. These are my general takes on what Percy's life could've turned out like in multiple scenarios.</p><p>~ Percy smiles and turns the tables so he can dip Nico. “I doubt it,” Nico smiles up at him, and all is right in the world again. ~  He’s so deep in thought he doesn’t notice the boy tying his shoe until he’s crashing into him. ~ “Do you want to play cards?” ~ He falls asleep quickly, the sound of Nico’s steady heartbeat guiding him towards pleasant dreams. ~</p>
            </blockquote>





	9 Lives Percy Jackson Should've, Could've, or Woud've Had

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, Guys! So in scenario 8 Percy has a pretty serious mental breakdown. It includes mentions of him not eating or sleeping, so if that triggers you do not read number 8. On number 5 there is sort of a similar mention, but it is not described directly. So again watch out for that. Those are the only glaring things I can think of. These characters are not mine, but any mistakes inside are. Feel free to comment! I always respond. <3 <3 <3

1.“What the neighbors think.”

“Annabeth, who’s that?” Annabeth’s neighbor inquires softly. She knew, of course, Percy with his windblown hair and bright emotional eyes, but the boy sitting next to him was not someone she was familiar with. “That’s Nico.” She cocks her head slightly when Annabeth's voice softens as she says his name. The only other time she ever hears her neighbor’s voice this kind and soft is when she speaks about her boyfriend. “Oh?” And for the first time she wonders if Percy is the only one that Annabeth loves.

It’s the holiday season and she is watching from the couch as Percy’s hands trail over Annabeth in the carefree way that people do when they are in love. Her smile falls as she watches him turn to touch Nico and touch in the same deliberately loving way. She waits for some sort of reaction from Annabeth, but all her neighbor does is smile fondly at the two of them. The night moves on, and she is almost able to put the couple’s odd interactions with Nico out of her head. That is until she watches Percy pulls Nico flush against his body under a stalk of mistletoe and kiss him effortlessly while Annabeth watches from the kitchen. Again, she waits for an angry reaction, instead, she is once again shocked as Annabeth waltzes over, pulls Nico down to her level, and kisses him square on the mouth. And for a minute, all that she can do is wonder if Annabeth can taste Percy on Nico’s lips.

“I think she’s onto us,” Percy murmurs into the crook of Annabeth’s neck. She laughs softly, and the sound resonates warm and sweet in his chest. He sticks his hand out and feels around for his boyfriend's hand. Nico threads their fingers together, and for a moment everything is perfect. Percy is warm and happy. This is all he needs in life, Annabeth curled up on one side and Nico pressed into the other. Nico turns onto his side and wiggles closer into Percy until his head is resting on his chest. Percy snickers and brings his hand up to stokes Nico’s hair. “Like a cat.” His voice falls quiet and reverent as he gazes down at him. Nico’s too tired to respond so he just growls a little and burrows farther into Percy. Annabeth smiles and kisses the part of Nico’s head that she can get to without really moving. Then as an afterthought, she tilts her head up and kisses the underside of Percy’s jaw. “And you’re an overgrown puppy.” She smiles and presses her toes into his warm leg. “Hmmm,” Percy responds, “Then what does that make you?” He ponders out loud. “Anna is an owl.” Nico pipes up, before promptly dropping his head back down into his boyfriend's chest. Percy considers this for a moment before nodding. “That sounds about right.” Annabeth hums and fumbles around behind her until she finds the lamp. Clicking it off they settle into darkness. Percy smiles and wraps his arms around the two of them. “Goodnight” All three of them drift off to sleep, confident that the others will keep the nightmares at bay. (They'll worry about nosy neighbors later.)

 

* * *

 

  1.  “Let me help you”



“I don’t understand why you won’t  just let me help!” Jason is the worst kind of angry, the kind that stems out of concern, and he will not let the subject drop. Percy growls, “I swear to all the Gods, just leave it alone! I don’t need your help, I’m fine!” That’s about the moment when Jason completely loses it. “You’re not, you’re lying to yourself, and you’re lying to me!” Jason grits his teeth in anger and lets out a huff of breath. “We’re worried about you, and we want you to be okay, we want to help you, but we can't because You. Won’t. Let. Us. In!” Percy ducks his head to hide the angry tears that are threatening to escape his eyes. “I haven’t cried,” Percy speaks so quietly, that if Jason hadn’t  been listening he wouldn't have caught it. “Percy?” Jason’s voice lowers back to a normal volume. “I haven’t cried since Luke,” Percy swallows thickly, “since Luke died.”Percy drops his head in shame. “Oh, Percy,” The anger has leaked out of Jason, leaving him tired and drained. Jason remembers when Annabeth had explained the greek version of the Titan war to him, and he can’t imagine how painful it must’ve been for Percy to lose Luke and everyone else in the war. He knew how much Percy had looked up to Luke. Jason steps forward and reaches a hand out to press firmly against Percy’s rough, tear-stained cheek. “I’m not saying everything is going to be fine because it’s probably isn’t going to be. But I am going to tell you that you aren’t alone. You have everyone on this ship and everyone at both camps standing behind you.You are never going to be alone again. You have me, and I am never going to let anything else hurt you.” He pulls Percy into a tight hug, and Percy presses his face hard into Jason’s shoulder. For the first time since Luke, Percy lets himself break down. Jason wasn’t sure how long he sat there holding Percy while he sobbed, and it really didn’t matter because it was worth it. He knew that he was going to have a lot of explaining to do in the morning, but for now, he was content to sit with Percy and hope that things would get better.

 

* * *

 

  1.  Power Outage



“Percy?”  Nico's fondly exasperated voice floats through their apartment and Percy almost sobs in relief. The soft light of a candle illuminates Nico's face as he looks down at Percy. “Oh, tesoro cosa e successo?” Technically Percy doesn't speak Italian, but he could pick up a few phrases here and there. Nico’s fingers brush lightly over Percy's ankle. Percy would like to say, that as the two-time savior of Olympus, he doesn't whimper, but in all honesty? He does. Nico tilts his chin up to look at his eyes. For the next couple of minutes, Percy obediently follows his finger and answers questions about how he is feeling. Nico moves the candle and gently pulls him off the ground. Percy is smart enough to know when boyfriend Nico turns into Dr. Nico, so Percy just goes along with whatever he says. (He can be pretty damn scary) Percy wakes up to a dark room and the quiet voice of Nico in the hallway. Their bedroom is only lit by the dim light of a dying candle. He can hear pieces of Nico's conversation, and after a few minutes, he gathers that Nico is on the phone with their boyfriend. He can pick out a few words and phrases. “I’m worried about him... no, don’t come home early... he's asleep now. I'll call you when he wakes up so you can talk to him. I'll talk to you later.” Percy pushes up on his elbows to examine the ice pack over his ankle and waits until Nico comes back into the room. “Hey, you're awake.” Nico’s voice is tired, and Percy absolutely hates it because he knows the worry is for him. “Was that Jason?” He asks quietly.  “Yeah,” Nico sighs and pushes an ebony curl behind his ear. “How are you feeling?” Nico inquires gently, placing a hand on Percy’s good knee. Percy shrugs, “Okay I guess; tired.” he answers truthfully. “Your head doesn’t hurt? How about your ankle?” Nico asks, worried. “They’re both okay.” Percy is already drifting off, but as Nico stands up to leave Percy catches his hand. “Wait”, stay with me until I fall asleep? Percy bites his lip like he is unsure. “Please.” His voice breaks a little on the please, and Nico feels a rush of affection for this beautiful broken boy and their shared bed. “Of course mi amore” he whispers and crawls into the bed, hyper aware of Percy's hurt foot. Percy rests his head against Nico’s chest. He falls asleep quickly, the sound of Nico’s steady heartbeat guiding him towards pleasant dreams.

 

* * *

 

  1.  Stuck On Train AU



Percy doesn't even realize he's clutching the guy’s bicep until the train close to a total stop. “I can't believe I'm not dead.” Percy continues to mutter under his breath even after the train stops shuddering with the aftershocks of the sudden stop. “Hey,” the handsome blonde sitting next to Percy awkwardly turned toward him and gets his attention. “Hey, hey, dude, are you ok?” It takes Percy a solid 30 seconds to get himself under control, but once that is accomplished, he turns to the stranger. “Yeah, I'm fine... Oh, sorry! Am I hurting you?” He hastily lets go of the man's arm, flushing bright red. “No, I'm fine, although it looks like we're going to be here for a while.” The man smiles kindly and glances around the train. Percy, still kind of flustered and embarrassed turns to watch the conductor make his way down the aisle. “Well since we're going to be stuck here awhile,” the man pulls a pack of cards from his pocket. “Do you want to play cards?” Percy blinks at him. “Sure, I guess? The man smiles and holds out a hand. “I’m Jason by the way,” Percy smiles and takes his hand. “Percy” he replies as he takes the offered hand of cards. 

 

* * *

 

  1. Troubled Artist AU



“Percy,” Jason sighs stepping into the dimly lit living room. “Yeah?” Percy answers without looking up from the notebook he's writing in. “I think you need to take a break.” Jason walks farther into the room suppressing a groan at the time displayed on the brightly lit clock. “Nope,” Percy states, “I’ve gotta finish this song. Jason rolls his eyes and perches on the edge of the table Percy is working on. Look, Jason cuts himself off and grabs Percy's chin forcing him to look into his eyes. “Look, Percy, this whole troubled artist thing you’ve got going on is not working for me. I'm worried about you. You aren't eating or sleeping, and it's not healthy. So right now, you’re done.” Jason let's go of his chin in favor of taking the notebook and guitar from Percy’s grasp. “You can finish in the morning after you've eaten breakfast and shaved.”

“Jason,” Percy wines. “No,” Jason mutters, ”come to bed.” He pulls Percy up and steers him gently toward the bedroom. Percy floats through Jason putting him in his pajamas is asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Jason rolls his eyes. “Idiot,” he mutters fondly as he drapes blankets over his sleeping form. Wandering back to his room, Jason stops by the couch and picks up the discarded notebook. Sighing he carries it with him on the way to turning off the lights. He turns around and drops the notebook on the bedside table before he crawls into bed. “Goodnight Perce.” He settles into the familiar position of big spoon as he presses up against Percy. Sighing he kisses Percy one last time before he closes his eyes. They’re going to be okay, that’s why they have each other. Jason gets comfortable and drifts off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

  1. Soulmate Timer AU



He’s running, feet hitting the pavement at the same pace as the timer in his wrist. 

10 minutes

7 minutes

5 minutes

2 minutes

Running, running, running toward his future and his soulmate. He’s not sure where he’s running to, but he is sure this is the right direction. He can feel it in the pull of his gut and the stretch of his fingertips. There’s a slight pull in his wrist tugging him down a busy street. He’s still running, squeezing past crowds of people. Abruptly he turns, slipping down an alleyway, cutting onto another street.

30 seconds

He’s panting hard with the thought of how big this really is. They were taught about the soul timers in school of course. The embedded timer in your wrist ticks slowly down and when it hits zero, you meet your soulmate. No one is really sure how it works, but soulmate bonds are irreplaceable. He’s so deep in thought he doesn’t notice the boy tying his shoe until he’s crashing into him.

5 seconds

“I’m so sorry!”

3 seconds

“Are you guys okay?”

0 seconds

Almost in unison all three of them look down at their wrists. 

3 arms

3 zeros

Their eyes meet. The girl’s piercing gray eyes take in the two boys before her. She raises her delicate eyebrows and he can already tell that he is going to like her. Finally, she smiles and holds her hands out to them both. “Well, we’d better take this out of the street.” She pauses until both boys are on their feet, then she opens her mouth and introduces herself. “I’m Annabeth,” she says holding out her hands. Shyly the other boy takes Annabeth's hand. “I’m Nico.” He speaks softly, but the hold on Annabeth’s hand is firm. “Percy,” He says and takes Annabeth’s other hand. They smile at each other and turn to walk towards an unknown future, together.

 

* * *

 

  1. If You Love Him (Let Him Go)



   Annabeth’s bags are packed at the top of the hill. The goodbyes had been hard and she’s mentally drained, but she still has one more person to say goodbye to. She’s pretty sure he’s in his cabin waiting for her. 

The walk to Percy’s cabin feels like the walk to execution, and her hands tighten around her dagger. (It’s not the one Luke gave her, that was gone. Lost in the depths of Hell. This one is a replacement. It’s temporary, and she misses her old one, but for the time being it will do.) The door to his cabin swings open and she is gathered into a hug that smells like sweat and the sea. She smiles and lets herself enjoy his presence one last time. He lets go of her and sighs, it sounds more like a sob and her heart melts. She takes his hand and moves to his bed and pushes gently until he sits. “Seaweed brain, you know that I love you, you also know that I’m going away for a long time. We’ve only been together for a few months, And you'll always be my best friend and my right-hand man. It’s just that, sometimes these things don’t work out. Even if both people love each other very much, sometimes people just aren’t meant to be together.” she feels like she’s talking down to him and she hates it but it can’t be helped. His sad smile has slipped into a look that breaks her heart and she looks down. “ Is there anything I can do to change your mind?” She looks up, expecting to see some sort of hope. She should have known better, he knows her better than anyone. he knows that there is no way to make her stay. The words were a formality and his face resigned. She bites her lip and fights to keep the tears from falling, “Can you forgive me? We can still be friends right?” she asks, “Of course, we can still be friends.” Annabeth notices that he only answers the second question and fights the urge to cry again. “I’m sorry” her voice is barely a whisper, but she knows that he heard her. He sighs, and says in a broken voice “I love you, and that’s not going to change, but if this makes you happy then I guess I’m happy. I’ll see you next year okay?” “ No,” He looks up, startled, and she hurries to finish. “I won’t lose you, not now, not ever. I’ll see you sooner than next year. You’re still my best friend okay?” Percy smiles slightly. “ Alright” And for a minute the boy she fell in love with is back, green eyes flashing “See you soon.” She nods turns on her heel, and disappears out the door, it slams shut. And just like that, Percy Jackson breaks apart at the seams.

 

* * *

 

  1. Falling Again



   He feels like he’s falling again, but this time, he’s alone. What he’s falling towards? He’s not sure. Possibly insanity, maybe death. He doesn’t know and he’s not particularly keen on finding out either. Nevertheless, he is metaphorically falling. If you asked him when he last slept through the night he would say a couple of weeks ago, it’s no big deal. If you asked him why he never ate he would say “I’m just not hungry, I’ll eat later”. And you'd sigh, and give him the space he so desperately wanted.

It’s the end of August. Camp is coming to a close. and he’s decided that he’s going to take a year off, live in his own apartment and maybe get his life straightened out. Mostly, he stops pretending. His dad is paying for the apartment as consolation for winning the second war, so he doesn't have to work. His mom is busy with becoming a writer and he barely sees her anymore. He misses her and regrets that they are growing apart, but maybe it’s for the best. His best friend is in San Francisco living with her dad and getting her life back. He considered staying at camp and helping with repairs, but Chiron was convinced that Percy needed some time off. So he packed his bags and said goodbye to the camp that had been his since the day he stumbled across the property line. 

His apartment isn’t big. It's a typical New York shoebox with a kitchenette, a bedroom, and a couch. One of the things that he loves about his apartment is the window seat. He spends most of his days sitting by that window, looking out over his city. He eats when he feels like he’s going to pass out. He does that a couple of times too, but he feels disoriented when he wakes up and he hates it, so he tries to avoid it. He spends his time sitting and staring out of the window. It’s funny, he remembers when he couldn’t sit still for 2 minutes. Back when his entire world revolved around the next carefully placed blow of his sword, and his life was built around prophecies. He can’t say that he misses the constant peril and danger, but there is something to say about always having something to do. It was always: Percy do this, and Percy do that. He’d hated that for the longest time, but after everything was done and over with he found himself with a terrifying question. What now? There were still monsters to fight and battles to win, but there was no big date hanging over his head. No war looming on the horizon. Percy sighs and pulls himself out of his head; he considers calling someone, possibly Nico or Jason, to come sit with him, but then he remembers that they have their own lives. They don’t need to come deal with his crap. So he goes back to what he was doing before. He sits and stares out of his window onto the city he gave his all to.

 

* * *

 

  1. Not Again



   Not again. You’d think that after years of being Percy freaking Jackson he would be used to the strange packages appearing on his doorstep. But no, he always forgets what it’s like to answer the door and be faced with nothing but an ominous package. Sighing, Percy squats down to get a closer look at the thing, half smiling when Annabeth appears in his mind to screech at him for putting his face near an unknown object. “I swear Percy Jackson, one of these days…” mind Annabeth mutters. Frowning he kneels and absentmindedly pulls riptide from his pocket running his fingers over the familiar pen. “What do you think, huh? Should we leave it on the counter for Nico to find?” This is one of his new habits, talking to himself, Will says it’s common for trauma victims, but Percy still thinks it's weird. (Not that it stops him from doing it.) Standing, and stoutly ignoring the creaking of his bones, he turns back into the house, listing for Nico. “Angel?” He calls back, waiting a minute until Nico shows up from somewhere in the back of the house, probably from taking a shower. “What’s up Perce?” Stepping forward he frowns and cranes his head to look around him, “Who’s at the door?” he asks. Sighing Percy steps away from the door and points at the box, “I don’t know what it is, but I really wish it wasn’t there.” Nico rolls his eyes and hikes his towel up a little farther, “Well I guess we can’t just leave it there.” he narrows his eyes and squints at it. “You know what? I need more clothes on to deal with this. Don’t touch it, or I swear to all the gods I will not save you from any impending doom.” He gives his boyfriend a pointed glare before he turns and hurries back to the bedroom. When Nico reappears he is wearing actual clothes and holding his sword. “You can touch it now.” Nico’s grin is catlike, but his eyes are serious. Percy reaches out and pokes it with a sword, and when it doesn’t immediately explode he reaches out and picks it up. “Don’t put that thing on the counter. It could be anything! Why else do you think I’m letting you open it?” Percy ignores Nico’s snide comments and reaches out to carefully open the box. Once open it’s clear that the thing is empty except for a single sheet of paper. Percy jerks out of the chair he’s sitting and throws his hands in the air. “I swear if that is a letter from a God I’m changing my name and moving to Switzerland.” He turns back around and scowls at the paper in Nico’s hand. “Well then, you’ll be happy to know it’s a letter from Travis inviting us to his wedding,” Nico grins at Percy and shakes his head. “That little weasel! Why the hell did he send it in a box?” Percy gapes at Nico in disbelief as reaches out to grab the invitation. “I’m sure he and Connor are laughing it up right now at the thought of putting 100 demigods on edge.” Percy snorts in response and holds out a hand for his boyfriend to take. “We should say no on principle.” Percy points out as he spins under Nico’s arm like he is dancing. “Yeah but you won’t do that to Katie,” Nico smiles as Percy drops the paper in favor of taking Nico’s hand so they can practice their waltz. “Yeah, because I’m scared of her.” Nico snorts and dips Percy low so he can kiss him. “Maybe there is some sense left in your brain after all,” Percy smiles and turns the tables so he can dip Nico. “I doubt it,” Nico smiles up at him, and all is right in the world again.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed that! Again I would love to hear from you! Also, if anyone wanted to know the Italian that Nico uses: The first phrase means "Oh, Honey what happened?" and the second is "my love"  
> So much love,  
> fandomsandfries


End file.
